Decree on migrant labour passes

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday passed the controversial executive decree on migrant worker management into a new act with 177 votes and 11 abstentions.

Section 172 of the constitution requires all executives decrees to be approved by the NLA. The 2017 migrant worker executive decree, that was recently imposed, was deliberated by the NLA yesterday and decided on by means of a vote.

Following a public outcry over the abrupt implementation of the decree that imposes tough penalties which caused a mass exodus of unregistered migrant workers from Thailand to their home countries, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha exercised his special power allowed under Section 44 of the interim charter to allow a 180-day reprieve for people involved in the employment of unregistered migrant workers.

The Section 44 order published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday stipulates that the enforcement of four sections of the executive decree will be suspended until Jan 1 next year.

During the NLA debate before the vote, many assembly members underlined the importance of reviewing the stiff penalties for those found to be violating the new labour law.

NLA member Somchai Sawaengkan, for instance, suggested members review the fines of between 400,000 baht and 800,000 baht, which he considered too high.

People could easily be tempted to commit bribery if they are found to be violating the law and do not want to pay the fines, he said.

Poj Aramwatthananon, another NLA member, said the immediate implementation of the executive decree has panicked both employers and unregistered migrant workers.

However, now Section 44 has been invoked, a new problem has emerged that needs to be watched and dealt with, he said, adding that the problem is a possible influx of new migrant workers into Thailand.

Despite the importance of migrant labour to Thailand’s economic growth in all business sectors, the existence of illegal migrant workers was in the past blamed for human trafficking in both Thailand and neighbouring countries, he said.

Labour Minister Gen Sirichai Distakul said the executive decree was a combination of the 2008 Act on the work of migrant workers and the 2016 Act on bringing migrants to work for employers in Thailand.